Barrington@150: Earliest St. Anne's congregation met in a house

St. Anne's Catholic Church opened in 1884, but the history of its congregation dates all the way back to 1855 when Irish immigrants (and newlyweds) Edward and Julia Lamey arrived in Barrington.

The Lameys' house at 328 Franklin St. hosted missionary priests from Woodstock, who celebrated Mass in their home for the town's Catholics until St. Anne's Catholic Church bought the Methodist church on Ela Street in 1873. The original St. Anne's was dedicated in 1884.

St. Anne's school opened in 1928, which in 1960 expanded to include 16 classrooms. In 1965, the St. Anne's convent opened and, in 1980, the school opened its first kindergarten class.

It remains the only Catholic community in Barrington and, in 2000, the church was expanded to accommodate its 3,700-plus families. At the time, its development plan was the largest in the modern history of the Chicago Archdiocese.

• Interested in Barrington history? Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/Barrington150.